All Over Again
by mspolapotter
Summary: After more than 10 years, Draco Malfoy is faced with the prospect of seeing Hermione Granger again. When the inevitable meeting happens, something even more unpredictable unfolds.


Believe me, I'm just as shocked as y'all. Inspired by Trixie Mattel/Brian Firkus's _I Know You All Over Again_ , this is the unplanned sequel to She Will Be Loved.

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 ** _All Over Again  
_**

 _-A DraMione-_

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Waking up was never the same again. Not after the last time that I left you.

I wake up, and the warm body of my wife is there. I smell her perfume and watch her body slowly rise and fall with her breathing. But that's just all she is, a warm body.

I stand up and shuffle to the bathroom, bracing myself for the long day ahead. September the first, the first day my son goes to Hogwarts. Maybe that's why you're on my mind all of a sudden. Because this might be the first time I see you after all these years.

Here's to hoping that we're finally old enough for me to accept that whatever happened between us is officially over.

My wife wakes up right after I finished my shower, and for a while I hoped that the footsteps from the hall were yours.

"Morning," she whispers groggily in my ear. She wraps her arms around my waist and kisses my back, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up because in the mirror, I thought it was you.

"Morning," I reply stiffly.

"What's going on, love?"

"Nothing," I say to her with a smile. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around the fact that Scorpius won't be around as often anymore."

My wife smiles at me warmly and gives me another kiss. "He'll be just fine." She takes off her robe and steps in the shower, leaving me alone again with my thoughts.

The three of us travel to King's Cross, my wife the only smiling face of the lot. I hold my son's hand and mirror his anxiety as we walk across the platform. I look around, hoping for a familiar face, and finally I see one. Yours.

And just like that, I know you all over again.

I know that crease on your brow, and that forced smile on your face. You're trying to be excited for your daughter but you can't help but worry.

One by one, people on the platform disappear onto the train. The train whistles and starts moving. Even more people disappear.

Until there were only a few of us on the platform.

I finally pluck up enough courage to say something.

"Your eldest, I assume," I say nonchalantly as you watch the train move slowly out of sight. "Ms. Granger."

You look at me in disbelief. I wonder why you are alone, but I don't ask. "Mr. Malfoy. It's been too long."

"Years."

We shake hands cordially. I introduce you to my wife. You shake hands cordially. An awkward silence stretched between the three of us.

"Would you like to have coffee?" you say finally.

"That would be lovely," I reply almost immediately. I didn't even ask my wife how she would feel about it.

"You go ahead," she says. "I'll go on home."

"That's a no, then," I say, barely remembering that our vows were supposed to mean something. "You know what the healers said, love. Next time?"

"Next time," you say with a smile. "I wonder, with the last bill on Muggle and Magical Integration, have you gone around to using mobiles?"

"Oh yes," my wife replies enthusiastically. "The device is excellent. Draco and I, we were supposed to have just one device for the household, but after discovering how useful and effortless it was, I made it a point to make sure we all had personal devices."

"That's really great to hear," you reply. You pull out something from your purse and hand it to me. "Here's my business card. Just in case you want an excuse to use your mobile."

"We'll hold on to this, thanks," my wife replies with a smile. "It was nice meeting you."

"You too," my wife says.

The moment we arrive home, I let my wife settle back in bed to rest. I don't do much else the rest of the day. I do some paperwork. I make sure my wife took all her potions. I watch her dial your number excitedly on her mobile, and her eyes light up when you answer.

Later that night, once my wife is asleep, I go to my office and wonder if I had made the right choice saying no. I pair my thoughts of you with scotch and the business card you handed me earlier today. I take out my mobile and dial your number, one digit at a time.

 _Ring._

Maybe I shouldn't.

 _Ring._

Or maybe I should.

 _Ring._

Maybe this is what I need to finally get you off my mind.

 _Click._

"Hello?"

And just like that I know you all over again.

Your voice is like music to my ears. We talk. For how long, I'm not sure. But we do. We go back to where we used to be. Hogwarts. Sleeping in the same dormitory as heads. Racing to the shower first thing in the morning. Moving into our own flat after finishing school.

You remind me of the Muggle songs you used to make me listen to. I make a mental note to use my mobile to search for them later on.

This becomes an odd routine of ours. You talk to my wife in the mornings. You talk to me in the evenings. And it never went beyond simple friendship.

You have no idea how much you helped my wife. Even on the worst days. The medication takes a toll. The therapy makes her weak.

"No," she would say in a weak voice. "I can use the phone. Mione said she'll teach me how to use the internet."

I smile. Through my wife, I know you all over again.

But one day, she doesn't wake up.

I want to blame you for taking away precious minutes that I could have spent with my wife, but I couldn't. The moment you walk through that door and embrace me, I could feel the sincerity of your grief. Almost like you know her as much as I had, almost like you feel just as guilty as I do.

I do not know what to do after the funeral. I stay with my son in our room. We hold each other for a long time. My mobile lays forgotten in my office.

A week later my son returns to school and for the first time I feel truly alone. I have no courage to pick up my phone, so I pick up my wife's instead. I smile, seeing that you had also made her listen to the Muggle songs we used to listen to. I lie in bed for a while, playing the songs, letting the music fill the void as I continue to go through her phone.

I find your name not only in her call logs, but also in her messages. Seeing these made me unable to hold my tears back. You were there with her every step of the way, sending her words of encouragement, trying to make her smile despite the pain. I see the last message you send her.

 _"I can't wait to see you again."_

I couldn't either.

I stand up, go to my office, and finally I have the courage to pick up my own phone.

I realize that I don't have to be alone in my grief. So I dial your number.

"Hello," you whisper into the phone. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," I reply. It was an honest answer. Seeing that my wife had less pain that I'd thought made everything seem a lot better. "As fine as I could be."

"Listen, it's not shameful for you to stay in bed all day," you say.

"I haven't," I reply. "I haven't been staying in bed all day. I haven't even been drinking all day."

"Now that's a surprise," you say. "I remember you would reach for the bottle at the slightest inconvenience."

"I remember too," I say. "Listen, I want to get out of the house. Do you want to have coffee?"

It takes you a while, but you reply, "I would love to."

And so, for the first time in years, I return to the place we once met. I sit in our favorite booth, the one by the window. I remember you used to love watching the rain and snow fall.

But it has been years. You aren't the woman you used to be. I am not the same man I used to be. In the back of my mind, I wonder if that letter I sent Weasley ever helped the situation. Because here we are yet again, about to meet at the last place I left you, as if we are meeting for the first time again.

The door opens. Then I see you.

And I love you all over again.

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Here's to hoping I write more. I missed this so much. Thanks for reading!


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